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Saturday August 3, 2013 6:17 AM

CLEVELAND — A review of a deadly police chase in Cleveland last fall has found that 75 patrol
officers violated orders and police department rules, city officials said yesterday. Nineteen
officers face disciplinary hearings.

In the November chase, a driver and passenger were killed when officers fired 137 shots at them.
The 23-minute pursuit involved five dozen cruisers and weaved through residential neighborhoods
before ending in gunfire.

Police Chief Michael McGrath said at a news conference yesterday that the violations ranged from
insubordination to failure to obtain permission to leave the city. By way of example, he said, an
officer might have been driving 100 mph on a side street and been told to stop, but didn’t.

Some officers were cited for multiple violations, he said, but none of the violations was so
serious that they warranted termination. Punishments could range from a written reprimand to a
suspension. Multiple offenders were referred to the public safety director for hearings because
their punishment could go beyond a 10-day suspension.

City officials said one of the 75 officers has since left for Cleveland’s fire department but
still faces disciplinary action.

Police brass punished 12 supervisors connected to the chase: One sergeant was fired, a captain
and lieutenant were demoted, and nine sergeants were suspended.

Also, a county grand jury is investigating possible criminal wrongdoing among the 13 officers
who fired their weapons as the chase ended in a school parking lot in East Cleveland.

The nighttime chase began when an officer thought he heard a gunshot from a car speeding by the
police and courts complex in downtown Cleveland. A parking-lot attendant thought it might have been
a car backfiring.

The officer pursued and radioed for help. The chase went through crowded neighborhoods, onto
busy I-90 and, eventually, into East Cleveland.

Driver Timothy Russell, 43, was shot 23 times and passenger Malissa Williams, 30, was shot 24
times. No weapon or shell casings were found in the car.